12 Back to School Budget Tips

I arrived home from BlogHer yesterday and did the math. 3 weeks until summer vacation is over. THREE WEEKS. Wow.

I love back to school time. No, not just because my kids are out of the house (though that is both WOOHOO! and 🙁 at the same time), but because I love school supplies. I’m the girl that likes freshly sharpened pencils, the smell of books, and the possibility that lays in a college-ruled notebook.

Besides stocking up on school supplies I love a good inventory and list. I already took stock and we have a dozen backpacks. The perils of being a blogger, I suppose.

I’ll share what I’ve learned from years of back to school shopping to help you stick to your budget, no matter how small it is. I’m prepping my list this afternoon, and waiting on back to school supply lists from my kids’ teachers to round it out.

Without further ado…

12 Ways to get Back-to School Ready on a Budget

1. Take Stock: Take inventory of all that you do have on hand including supplies, backpacks, clothing, shoes, and lunch needs.
2. Make a List: I know I share this a lot. I’m a big fan of list making. You need to write everything from socks to highlighters.
3. Set a Budget: Set a budget for yourself and stick to it. That may mean going with cheaper versions of some items, but be sure to focus your spending on where it counts. For my family that’s lunch boxes and backpacks that will last all year.
4. Have Kids Pitch In: If your kids are begging for something that’s out of your budget ask them to pitch in their own money. Whether through extra chores or their savings they can help make up the difference in cost between discount and label brands.
5. Check with School: Many schools offer items to students at no cost, and often the list of very specific items your child needs is different from what you think they may need.
6. Stalk Sales: While it may seem counter-intuitive sales are actually pretty amazing during the back to school shopping season. Glue may cost 1 ¢ (on super sale) or $1, but if you pick up the same glue in November it’s $2.59.
7. Stock Up: Speaking of sales, stock up! Whether it’s 1 ¢ glue or BTS clearance, stock up for the coming year. You know you’ll need that third pack of crayons, and 5th folder before the end of the year.
8. Reuse: Reuse whatever you can. Book covers, backpacks, lunch bags, and even summer clothing gets reused for back to school.
9. Skip New Clothes: For most kids their summer wardrobe is their back to school wardrobe. Shorts an tees, dresses, and lightweight clothes are still necessary for the first month or so of school. Then you can add layers like sweatshirts, cardigans, tights, and other layers to make them fall-ready. For kids that wear uniforms look for their basics on super discount, and see if parents of older kids have hand me downs they are willing to sell you for a huge cost savings.
10. Check out eBay for Back to School: Did you know eBay has a ton of great back-to-school items? I may have just spent 30 minutes looking at vintage lunch boxes.
11. Wait it Out: Instead of spending money on back to school items before school starts consider waiting until items are deeply discounted especially if you still have some stock from last year.
12. Plan a 1st Day Back Activity: Any parent will tell you there are lots of tears and bittersweet moments on the first day back. Make sure you plan so time with other parents (or kids that are still at home), or something to keep yourself busy so you don’t think too much about how big your kids have gotten.

Win Big for Back to School with eBay!

Back to School Twitter Party (8/14)

Tweet with us on 8/14 from 3-5pm ET/12-2pm PT for the eBay Back-to-School Twitter party. To join in head to ebay.com/schoolparty to RSVP and party! Hosted by the Splash Creative Media team, we’ll be chatting about how to take the hectic out of back to school season.

Pinterest Backpack Sweeps (from 7/25-8/31)

eBay’s Back to School Pinterest Sweepstakes will award daily winners a $100 eBay Gift Card to shop for their back to school essentials on eBay.com. Entry and info here.

Facebook Instant Win Game (from 8/1-8/31)

Play the eBay What’s In Your Backpack Instant Win Game for a chance to win a $50 eBay Gift Card to do some back to school shopping.

How are you prepping for back to school? Any advice I missed on sticking to your budget?

Kelly

Disclosure: eBay sponsored this post via Splash Creative Media. eBay is a client of Splash Creative Media, for which I am a principal.

About Kelly

Kelly Whalen is the founder and editor of the Centsible Life. She started the blog in 2008 as her family faced a mountain of debt and the fixer upper they purchased became a FIXER UPPER. The website was born out of her desire to share what was working (and what was not) on her family's journey to financial security. Kelly lives in Minneapolis with her family.

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